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Pressing my hands into the ground, pushing my magic into the network spreading all around me, I find my boys—faint presences behind the now thin wall of the enchantment, their power so depleted they’re dark shadows.
Take, I think—and push magic into them. Take the magic.
It flows out of me, lighting them up, and a smile tugs on my lips before my eyes dim and it all goes black.
“Well, well,” Ophelia says. “Look who we got here. Rise and shine, cupcake.”
Lifting my lids is like trying to bench-press two small cars. They resist. My eyes water when a shaft of light enters them, sharp like a knife. “Shit.”
“Such language. Then again, you are the Dark Queen, aren’t you? Makes sense that you’d be so crass.”
“I’m no Queen,” I grind out, making another attempt to open my eyes. This time it’s easier, the light entering them less painful.
“Two Queens will be born,” she says softly, “one white and the other dark. Only one will win.”
“Ophelia…”
“You were always my dark self, cousin. My shadow. Why do you think Uncle and Aunt tried to keep you away from magic? They knew you’d try to steal my show, fuck up my life.”
“What…?” I sit up on the bed I’ve been laid on and rub at my crusty lashes. “You’re not making any sense.”
“Think about it and you’ll see I’m making perfect sense. You’re too dangerous to our mission, our goal. So much work over so many years and you come in and think you can destroy it in a matter of weeks?” She shakes her head. “Maddie, I think it’s time I kept you out for good.”
“So now you admit you’re my cousin?” I give her an incredulous look. “And what do you mean, keep me out?”
“Come on, use your brain. I can’t have you running about just a few days before the Golden Moon, pretending to be me and doing whatever you want. Your magic may be stunted but in its raw form, it’s still strong enough to give me some trouble. We don’t want trouble before the grand finale, do we?”
“Lia—”
“No. We don’t. Now don’t get airs. Did you think I was afraid of you? Ah, you did.” She smirks. “Nah, sorry to disappoint. I only want things to run smoothly. You keep jumping between my four handsome cogs like an unruly wrench. Remove the wrench, fix the machine. Simple as that.”
“You can’t kill me,” I croak. “Even you don’t have a heart of stone. We grew up together.”
“Who said anything about killing you?” She pulls a face as if I’ve said something crazy—when she’s about to sacrifice my boys to the altar of her power. “A witch has other ways.”
Not very reassuring.
“By the way, thanks for replenishing the boys’ magic. I was starting to think that they’d be too depleted for the final ritual. Now, though…” She laughs. “They’re good as new. Right, boys?”
I turn my head and there they are. I blink because they are standing in a row, arms folded over their chests, blood still encrusted on their faces but no tremor showing in their rigid postures. They’re wearing shirts, I realize, and shoes, and why does it seem like I’ve been out for a while?
“What did you do to me?” I whisper, my throat raw. “How long was I passed out?”
“Do to you? Nothing—yet. I came to find you here in Sindri’s room. You don’t know how to use magic properly, cousin.” She taps a finger on her lips. “Remember when I said that a witch’s magic is like a hook? That it needs a weakness?”
“Yeah, but—”
“I’ve found your weakness, Maddie. Four weaknesses, in fact. Standing right in front of you.” She gestures at the boys as if she’s presenting a line of products for my perusal.
“You can’t,” I start and stop, my throat closing. “What are you going to do?”
“I told you not to fall for them. Told you it’s dangerous. You’ve fallen so hard for them that anyone could hook you and bespell you. You’re lucky it’s just me.”
“Ophelia—”
“Your despair every time I hurt them, your fear every time you see them with me, your anger every time I tell you they’re mine, your anguish at their absence from your life… Oh, cousin. You were easy pickings.”
“Were?” I sit up straighter, ice flowing through my veins, stiffening my spine. I glance at the boys, impassive like statues, then back at her pleased smile. “What did you do?”
